Papi’s Comfort Kitchen — Restaurant in Utrecht

I've been to Papi's twice in the last month. Once for brunch and once for dinner. I highly recommend a reservation either way. I loved their previous sandwich shack and had been confident that the food would exceed my expectations.

The food is superb, everything tastes very sophisticated and is being made fresh to order. The chicken they use for their dishes remains being super juicy which really makes those dishes stand out to me. And I just love the fact that I can satisfy my cravings for fresh mozzarella sticks with marina at Papi's.

I also really like their drink offers, appreciating them having a virgin gin on stock to turn any of their drink options with gin into a mocktail.

Unfortunately the service was lacking both times that I visited and I'm not sure whether that is based on lack of routine of the staff or whether it is the actual system they work with.

When I went for dinner it was super packed due to being Thirsty's Thursday. We order two starters and two mains. Overall it took very long to place our orders and also to get drinks as far as two different waiters came to ask for drinks. After we had our starters it took massively long for the mains to arrive, whereas it turned out that they forgot to even put our mains in the system. Once they realized (after asking us twice about whether we had ordered more food), they compensated us with offering a standard drink which was a nice gesture.

When we went for brunch (at the time of ordering it was only 3 more tables being seated besides us) there was a similar mishap, but this time being that none of the orders were separated so the kitchen had starters and mains ready at the same time. We were kindly asked whether they should put the mains in the oven to keep them warm. So we were pleased to do so for 5-10min max when we were having the first round of food. But when we then were served the mains they were unfortunately not properly hot anymore. Also reordering drinks once the place was packed during noon was quite a hassle.

Besides the above points the staff is super nice and kind.

I'll keep coming back for the food for sure and I kinda hope that during the next Christmas-holiday season that they would bring back my previous favorite from the shack, being the Christmas special (roasted turkey melt with stuffing, ham, cranberries...

The staff is friendly and welcoming, the atmosphere is lively but the food is mediocre at best. The 17€ Full Vegan Breakfast (the only vegan option) was served with non-vegan halloumi cheese. When I told the server he said that halloumi is vegan, then checked with the kitchen and told me it’s actually not vegan. Nothing else - no replacement for the non-vegan cheese was offered, no discount, nothing. The rest of the platter was alright, lots of greasy fried stuff. For 17€ I expected more and unfortunately left still hungry. The 12.50€ chicken Caesar salad my friend had was tasty but lacking in portion size in his opinion. Iced coffee and fresh orange juice were good. Improvements to be made: train staff on what is vegan, on how to deal with a complaint if a mistake happened, work on portion sizes. How is it justified to charge the same price for veggie and vegan breakfast despite the fact that for the vegan one you just remove the eggs and cheese without replacing it with anything else? Less food should be reflected in a lower price

update 2025: vegan options have decreased (aka there’s one dish) and prices have gone up. Here on Google the restaurant offered a make-up brunch after my last rebrew, but they never followed up on it....

The location, interior, service, and general atmosphere are phenomenal! You feel the love and warmth that is put into this place, while maintaining style and chillness. The food however didn’t impress it. I ordered the chicken and waffles, Mac n Cheese, and Breakfast Banger with hot sauce, and everything was underseasoned and under-salted, especially the fried chicken. It was such a shame because the presentation of the food is impeccable and everything is cooked to perfection, but you hardly taste anything. The Mac n cheese simply tasted of Gouda with no saltiness or cheddar kick, the hot sauce was not hot by any standard, and like I said the fried chicken tasted like it was Baked, not fried. Spices go a long way but these ones just couldn’t do the distance. I say that from a Hispanic/American perspective though, maybe the spices are intentionally tuned down for the Dutch palate which I can understand. Despite the negativity, the restaurant is still delicious and worth every euro! (Maybe get a spicy option and ask for more...